Venue: Bournemouth International Centre Date: Saturday, 17 December |
Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra & online from 22:00 GMT; reaction on BBC Sport website & app |
Rocky Fielding has missed the weight for his British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight championship bout against Dan Azeez.
Fielding, 35, weighed in a pound over the 175lbs limit but the fight will still go ahead in Bournemouth.
Azeez can add the Commonwealth belt to the British title he already holds, but Fielding cannot win either title.
“I don’t read too much into the weight. It is what it is,” Azeez said of his opponent’s failure to make weight.
“Whether he comes over the weight, under the weight, we’ve still got Saturday night to deal with and that’s what I’m focused on.”
The fight in Bournemouth is part of the card headlined by hometown fighter Chris Billam-Smith’s cruiserweight bout against Kosovo’s Armend Xhoxhaj.
Were Fielding to win on Saturday, Azeez would remain the British champion and the Commonwealth title would stay vacant.
Azeez, 33, faces his toughest test to date in the form of former WBA (Regular) super-middleweight champion Fielding.
Fielding is 30-2 in his career, with his only defeats against then-world champions Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Callum Smith at super-middleweight.
Azeez is undefeated in 17 fights and has slowly made a name for himself in the division since dismantling Hosea Burton in November 2021.